Attention-based, multi-screen advertisement scheduling

ABSTRACT

An advertisement system includes an advertising manager that receives a content-event indicator, which indicates playback of an advertisement for viewing on a first display screen at a media-playback device or indicates playback of recorded content that includes advertisements. The advertising manager can determine an optimal time offset as a duration of time before or after playback of an advertisement to the start of an event that is associated with the advertisement for viewing on a second display screen at a mobile device. For recorded content, an optimization schedule is determined that replaces and time-shifts advertisements during playback of the recorded content. The advertising manager can also determine a fulfillment criterion for a product or service based on latency constraints to indicate a duration of time within which fulfillment of the product or service is expected when offered as a second advertisement corresponding to a first advertisement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.13/682,978 and 13/683,003, filed on an even date herewith.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is related generally to digital-media servicesand, more particularly, to advertisement placement.

BACKGROUND

The traditional notion of watching broadcast television at home hasevolved into many different forms of viewing television content, on manydifferent devices. For example, users can watch live and recordedtelevision content, such as television programs, advertisements,sporting events, and movies on various display devices, to includetelevisions, computer displays, entertainment devices, and even mobiledevices, such as tablets and mobile phones. Additionally, users areincreasingly on-line more than ever and commonly multi-task whilewatching television content. For example, a viewer may be watching atelevision program or sporting event on a first-screen device, such as atelevision, while dividing his attention to also focus on a secondscreen device, such as a mobile phone supporting a text conversationwith a friend or a tablet device with an email application. The viewermay be likely to pay more attention to the television (e.g.,first-screen device) when the content is engaging, such as a scoringplay in a sporting event, and then turn attention to the mobile device(e.g., second screen device) when the content is less interesting.

Multi-tasking around television viewing is creating both opportunitiesand challenges for multi-screen user experiences. While advertiserscontinue to devote a majority of their advertising budget to traditionaltelevision media, the advertisers also recognize that viewers areincreasingly using and paying attention to second screen devices whilewatching television. Advertisers are developing advertising campaignsthat attempt to capture viewer attention with related advertisements,both in the traditional “first-screen” television media and on the“second screen” mobile devices, where a first-screen advertisementtriggers a content-related second screen advertisement or other event.

However, the synchronization of a first-screen advertisement with asecond screen advertisement is a coordination challenge. A first-screenadvertisement is more likely to be effective in capturing viewerattention when the television content is engaging, whereas a secondscreen advertisement is likely to be missed by the viewer while his orher attention remains on the first-screen device. Alternatively, asecond screen advertisement or event is more likely to be seen by theviewer when the television content on the first-screen device is lessinteresting and his or her attention is on the second screen device.However, the viewer is more likely to miss a first-screen advertisementwhile focused on the second screen device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

While the appended claims set forth the features of the presenttechniques with particularity, these techniques, together with theirobjects and advantages, may be best understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsof which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example advertisement system in which embodimentsof attention-based, multi-screen advertisement scheduling can beimplemented;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of attention-based, multi-screenadvertisement scheduling in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example advertisement system in which embodimentsof attention-based advertisement scheduling in time-shifted content canbe implemented;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method of attention-based advertisementscheduling in time-shifted content in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example advertisement system in which embodimentsof multi-screen advertisement correlation based on purchases can beimplemented;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method of multi-screen advertisementcorrelation based on purchases in accordance with one or moreembodiments; and

FIG. 8 illustrates various components of an example device that can beimplemented in the example advertisement systems in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements, techniques of the present disclosure are illustrated as beingimplemented in a suitable environment. The following description isbased on embodiments of the claims and should not be taken as limitingthe claims with regard to alternative embodiments that are notexplicitly described herein.

Embodiments of advertisement scheduling and correlation are describedwith reference to various advertisement systems. An advertiser canimplement an advertising campaign that seeks to capture viewer attentionwith related advertisements, both in the traditional first-screentelevision media and on second-screen mobile devices, where afirst-screen action or advertisement triggers a content-relatedsecond-screen display event, interaction-based event, or otheradvertisement for display.

Generally, a first-screen event, such as an advertisement or productplacement in a television program or movie (also referred to as an“anchor”), can trigger a coordinated, synchronized, or content-relatedsecond-screen action, such as another advertisement or event, alert,application update, or image displayed. Coordinated advertising providesa value-added opportunity for content providers and advertisers, and asecond-screen event or advertisement can be scheduled to correspond to afirst-screen event, thereby providing a screen-multiplier effect knownto increase brand awareness or advertisement fulfillment.

In embodiments of attention-based, multi-screen advertisementscheduling, an advertising manager is implemented to determine anoptimal time offset that is a duration of time between a first-screenaction or advertisement and the start of a content-related,second-screen event that is associated with the first-screen action oradvertisement. The optimal time offset can be determined to initiate thesecond-screen event before or after the first-screen action oradvertisement so that the first-screen action and the second-screenevent do not directly compete for viewer attention. However, the optimaltime offset can be determined within an acceptable end limit so that theviewer will still likely make the cognitive and contextual connectionbetween the first-screen action and the second-screen event.

In embodiments of attention-based advertisement scheduling intime-shifted content, the advertising manager is implemented todetermine a playback optimization schedule for recorded content (e.g.,time-shifted content) that is initiated for playback at a media-playbackdevice. The recorded content includes advertisements in respectivetimeslots within the recorded content, and the playback optimizationschedule can include replacing or time-shifting advertisements to analternate timeslot during the playback of the recorded content. Theadvertising manager can also determine the playback optimizationschedule based in part on an optimal time offset that is a duration oftime between a first-screen action or advertisement and acontent-related, second-screen event that is associated withadvertisement playback in the recorded content.

In embodiments of multi-screen advertisement correlation based onpurchases, the advertising manager is implemented to determineadvertisement-fulfillment criteria for a product or service based onlatency constraints received from a provider of the product or service.The advertisement-fulfillment criteria indicate a duration of timewithin which fulfillment of the product or service is expected whenoffered as a second-screen advertisement that corresponds to afirst-screen action or advertisement.

While features and concepts of advertisement scheduling and correlationcan be implemented in any number of different devices, systems,configurations, or networks, embodiments of advertisement scheduling andcorrelation are described in the context of the following exampledevices, systems, and methods.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 that can be implemented inaccordance with any of the embodiments, aspects, and features of thevarious advertisement systems described herein. The example system 100is representative of the advertisement systems shown and described withreference to FIGS. 2, 4, and 6. Generally, the advertisement systemsinclude an advertising manager 102 that manages aspects and features ofmulti-screen advertisement scheduling and correlation. The advertisingmanager 102 may commonly be referred to as an advertisement-campaignmanager. As an advertiser, a provider of a product or service mayinitiate an advertising campaign that seeks to capture viewer attentionwith related advertisements, both in the traditional first-screentelevision media and on second-screen mobile devices, where afirst-screen action or advertisement triggers a content-relatedsecond-screen event or advertisement for display, such as an alert,application update, or displayed image. In implementations, afirst-screen advertisement may be video content, and a second-screenevent is an image display or interaction-based event.

In this example, the system 100 includes a first display screen 104 anda second display screen 106. The first display screen 104 may be atelevision device 108 that is connected to a media-playback device 110,such as a television set-top box or digital video recorder. A televisiondevice 108 may also include integrated components as a media-playbackdevice. The first display screen 104 may also be a computer displaydevice 112, such as connected to a computer device 114. A computingdevice 114 may also include an integrated display screen, such as alaptop computer, through which a viewer can receive and watch televisioncontent, such as television programs, advertisements, sporting events,movies, and the like. The second display screen 106 may be any type ofportable or mobile device, such as a tablet 116 or mobile phone 118, onwhich a user can view a content-related second-screen action, such asanother advertisement, event, alert, application update, or displayedimage.

In the advertisement systems, the advertising manager 102 can receive acontent-event indicator 120 from any of the various first-screen,media-playback devices. In embodiments of attention-based, multi-screenadvertisement scheduling, the content-event indicator 120 indicates anevent, such as playback of an advertisement for viewing or that anadvertisement will playback for viewing, on the first display screen 104at a media-playback device. The advertising manager 102 is implementedto determine an optimal time offset 122 that is a duration of timebefore the advertisement will playback or the optimal time offset fromplayback of the advertisement to the start of an event that isassociated with the advertisement. An event notification 124 can then becommunicated to a mobile device to initiate the event for viewing at theoptimal time offset on the second display screen 106 at the mobiledevice. This is described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 2and 3.

In embodiments of attention-based advertisement scheduling intime-shifted content, the advertising manager 102 receives thecontent-event indicator 120 that indicates playback of recorded contentfor viewing at a media-playback device, and the recorded contentincludes advertisements in respective timeslots within the recordedcontent. The advertising manager 102 is implemented to determine aplayback optimization schedule 126 that includes replacing ortime-shifting advertisements to an alternate timeslot during theplayback of the recorded content. The playback optimization schedule 126is then communicated to the media-playback device 110 to reschedule orreplace the advertisements during playback of the recorded content. Thisis described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

In embodiments of multi-screen advertisement correlation based onpurchases, the advertising manager 102 determinesadvertisement-fulfillment criteria 128 for a product or service based onlatency constraints received from a provider of the product or service.The advertisement-fulfillment criteria indicate a duration of timewithin which fulfillment of the product or service is expected whenoffered as a second advertisement corresponding to a first-screen actionor advertisement. The advertising manager 102 receives the content-eventindicator 120 that indicates playback of the first advertisement forviewing on the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device110. The event notification 124 can then be communicated to the mobiledevice to initiate the second advertisement that includes thefulfillment criteria for viewing on the second display screen 106 at themobile device. This is described in further detail with reference toFIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example advertisement system 200 in whichembodiments of attention-based, multi-screen advertisement schedulingcan be implemented. The example advertisement system 200 includes theadvertising manager 102 that determines the optimal time offset 122 andthe first display screen 104 and the second display screen 106 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1. This example advertisement system200 also includes a media-playback device 202, such as any type oftelevision set-top box, computer device, gaming system, or entertainmentdevice that can be utilized to receive and playback television content204 and advertising content 206. The media-playback device 202 may alsoimplement a digital video recorder 208 to record and store recordedcontent. The digital video recorder 208 can record the televisioncontent 204 along with the advertising content 206 when initiallydistributed (e.g., as broadcast or multicast content). Inimplementations, a device 210 may include the media-playback device 202integrated with the display screen 104, such as a television device thatincludes integrated components of a media-playback device 202 to receiveand playback television content for viewing.

The example advertisement system 200 also includes a mobile device 212,such as a tablet device or mobile phone, that includes the displayscreen 106, which can be utilized for viewing advertising content 214along with other types of television and media content. Additionally,the media-playback device 202, device 210, or the mobile device 212 canbe implemented with various components, such as processing and memorydevices, as well as with any combination of components as furtherdescribed with reference to the example device shown in FIG. 8. Forexample, media-playback devices or mobile devices may include a datainterface or tuner that tunes to a television channel frequency overwhich the television and advertising content is delivered. The devicesmay also include a media player that is implemented to manage contentplayback at the device or a media rendering system to playback thetelevision and advertising content for viewing.

The display screen 104, the media-playback device 202, and the device210 are collectively referred to as the first display screen orfirst-screen device throughout embodiments described herein. The displayscreen 106 and the mobile device 212 are collectively referred to as thesecond display screen or second-screen device throughout embodimentsdescribed herein. As described with reference to FIG. 1, an advertiser(e.g., a provider of a product or service) may initiate a multi-screenadvertising campaign seeking to capture viewer attention with relatedadvertisements or events, both at a first-screen device and at asecond-screen device (also referred to as a companion device). Inimplementations, the mobile device 212 may also include any type ofdevice sensors 216 that detect device position (e.g., a user viewableposition) or device use to indicate that a user is engaged with thedevice 212 and likely to see a second-screen, content-relatedadvertisement or other event.

The media-playback device 202 and the mobile device 212 each include anadvertising client, such as a software application or component that isdownloaded and installed on the device and is executable by a processingsystem on the respective device. An advertising client 218 at themedia-playback device 202 is implemented to communicate with theadvertising manager 102, such as to communicate a content-eventindicator 220 to the advertising manager 102 to indicate an event, suchas playback of an advertisement for viewing or that an advertisementwill playback for viewing, on the first display screen 104 at themedia-playback device 202. Similarly, an advertising client 222 at themobile device 212 is implemented to communicate with the advertisingmanager 102, such as to receive an event notification 224 from theadvertising manager 102 to initiate an event (e.g., a second-screenadvertisement, displayed image, alert, etc.) for viewing on the seconddisplay screen 106 at the mobile device 212.

Any of the devices and servers described herein can communicate via anetwork 226, which can be implemented to include a wired or a wirelessnetwork. The network 226 can also be implemented using any type ofnetwork topology or communication protocol and can be represented orotherwise implemented as a combination of two or more networks, toinclude IP-based networks or the Internet. The network may also includemobile-operator networks that are managed by a mobile-network operatoror other network operators, such as a communication-service provider,cell-phone provider, or Internet-service provider.

The example advertisement system 200 includes advertising services 228that implement content servers 230 to distribute advertising content 232to the various devices, such as the advertising content 206 to themedia-playback device 202 and the advertising content 214 to the mobiledevice 212. The advertising services 228 are representative of anynumber of different advertising agencies or advertisement services thatmay implement an advertising campaign for an advertiser (e.g., aprovider of a product or service) and can be implemented on a network ofone or more server devices. For example, an advertiser may engage anadvertising service 228 to develop both first display screen and seconddisplay screen content-related advertisements and events. Alternatively,a first-screen advertisement may be provided by an advertiser as theadvertising content 206 at the media-playback device 202, while acoordinated second-screen advertisement is provided by a differentadvertiser as the advertising content 214 at the mobile device 212.

In some implementations, the advertising manager 102 may be implementedas an independent device or service (e.g., as shown) or may beimplemented as an integrated component or service of the advertisingservices 228. Alternatively or in addition, the advertising manager 102can be implemented as a network-based service (e.g., in the cloud) toimplement embodiments of advertising scheduling and correlation asdescribed herein.

Although not shown, any of the advertisement systems shown and describedherein can include a television-content distribution system withmedia-content servers that distribute the television content 204 to themedia-playback device 202 as well as any other type of audio, video, orimage data in the form of television programming, movies, on-demandvideo, interactive games, advertisements, and the like to themedia-playback and mobile devices. A media-content distribution systemmay be commonly referred to as a headend that distributes the mediacontent (e.g., the television and advertising content) via a cabletelevision system or as multicast IP (e.g., also commonly referred to asbroadband television, or as Internet television). Any of the describedserver devices that are implemented for the advertising services 228 ora television-content distribution system can be implemented with variouscomponents, such as processing and memory devices, as well as with anycombination of components as further described with reference to theexample device shown in FIG. 5. For example, a content distributorincludes storage media, such as any type of memory or suitableelectronic data storage, to store or to otherwise maintain the mediacontent and other data.

In some embodiments, the advertising manager 102 receives thecontent-event indicator 220 from the advertising client 218 at themedia-playback device 202 to indicate a first-screen device event, suchas playback of an advertisement for viewing on the first display screen104 at the media-playback device 202. The content-event indicator 220can indicate that the advertisement has been played back for viewing,has started playback, or will playback for viewing on the first displayscreen 104 at the media-playback device 202. The advertising client 218at the media-playback device 202 can be implemented to determine afirst-screen device event based on closed captions, audio-formatdetection, video or audio analysis, or by other available techniques.

The advertising manager 102 is implemented to compute a first-screenattention profile from a combination of content characteristics andsocial reaction to the television content 204 to identify when viewersare more and less interested (also referred to as peaks and valleys ofcollective user attention) in the first-screen device television content204. The advertising manager 102 can receive social-media indicators 234from any number of various social-medias 236, such as “tweets,” “likes,”“check ins,” etc., that indicate a level of viewer attention totelevision content that includes the first display screen advertisement.The social-media indicators 234 can be used to model real-timecollective viewer interest in first-screen device content, and thedetermined viewer interest can be combined with historical profiles topredict upcoming peaks and valleys in viewer attention. In addition, theadvertising manager 102 may also receive advertiser-designated timedurations that are advertiser preferences of the time duration betweenthe advertisement playback on the first display screen 104 at themedia-playback device 202 and the event for viewing on the seconddisplay screen 106 at the mobile device 212.

The advertising manager 102 can then determine the optimal time offset122 from the time of playback of the advertisement to a start of acontent-related event that is associated with the advertisement. Anevent that is initiated for viewing on the second display screen 106 atthe mobile device 212 can be a coordinated advertisement with thefirst-screen advertisement that is played back for viewing on the firstdisplay screen 104 at the media-playback device 202. In most cases, thetime duration of the optimal time offset will be short enough topreserve a contextual linkage between the first display screen event oradvertisement and the related, second-screen action so that a viewerwill make the connection between the first-screen cause and thesecond-screen effect.

The advertising manager 102 can also determine more than one optimaltime offset based on different criteria, such as the closest offset, thelongest offset, the highest confidence offset, etc. The optimal timeoffset 122 can be determined based on several constraints, such asoffset limits provided by an advertiser or offset preferences, such asthe magnitude level of attention and a duration of attention level at aparticular offset. For example, the advertising manager 102 candetermine the optimal time offset 122 as a duration of time before orafter the first-screen advertisement will playback for viewing on thefirst display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

In some implementations, the optimal time offset 122 can be determinedbased on viewer attention to the television content 204 at themedia-playback device 202 that includes the advertisement (e.g.,advertising content 206). The level of the viewer attention can indicatea low-interest moment in the television content 204, which alsoindicates likely viewer focus on the mobile device 212. The optimal timeoffset can also be determined based on collective viewer activity insocial media, such as determined from the social-media indicators 234,determined based on viewer preferences and viewer reaction to previousevents displayed for viewing on the second display screen 106 at themobile device 212, or determined within an advertiser-designated timeduration or other constraints.

The advertising manager 102 can also be implemented to determine theoptimal time offset 122 based on viewer preferences, taking into accountthe usage history and capabilities of the second-screen device (e.g.,the mobile device 212). For example, usage history may indicate that auser of the device is likely to disregard second-screen advertisementactivity for a period of time when engaged in a particular activity orwith a current application on the device 212. Alternatively or inaddition, the device 212 may not download and store the advertisingcontent 214 as fast as some other devices, and the optimal time offsetwould allow more time for advertising content download to thesecond-screen device 212.

The advertising manager 102 can initiate communication of the eventnotification 224 to the advertising client 222 at the mobile device 212to initiate the second-screen event for viewing at the optimal timeoffset on the second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212.Advertising actions at the second-screen device 212 can includedisplaying the advertisement at the optimal time offset (e.g., eitherbefore or after the first-screen event or advertisement), removing theadvertisement at that time offset, pricing the advertisement based onthe time offset, rescheduling another advertisement based on the timeoffset, or adapting the advertisement content based on the time offset,such as to display different actions for the advertisement or differentmodalities of the advertisement.

Example methods 300, 500, and 700 are described with reference torespective FIGS. 3, 5, and 7 in accordance with embodiments, aspects,and features of the various advertisement systems described herein.Generally, any of the services, components, modules, methods, andoperations can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g.,fixed-logic circuitry), manual processing, or any combination thereof. Asoftware implementation represents computer instructions that performspecified tasks when executed by a computer processing system. Theexample methods may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, which can include software,applications, programs, operations, components, modules, functions, andthe like. The computer instructions can be stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage media devices, both local or remote to acomputer processing system. The methods may also be practiced in adistributed environment by multiple computer or network devices.Further, the operations described herein are platform-independent andcan be implemented on a variety of computing platforms with differentprocessing systems.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 300 of attention-based,multi-screen advertisement scheduling and is generally described withreference to the example advertisement system 200 shown in FIG. 2. Theorder in which the method is described is not intended to be construedas a limitation, and any number or combination of the described methodoperations can be combined in any order to implement a method or analternate method.

At 302, a content-event indicator is received that indicates playback ofan advertisement for viewing on a first display screen at amedia-playback device. For example, the advertising manager 102 in theadvertisement system 200 (FIG. 2) receives the content-event indicator220 that indicates playback of an advertisement for viewing on the firstdisplay screen 104 at the media-playback device 202. The content-eventindicator 220 may indicate that the advertisement has been played backfor viewing, has started playback, or will playback for viewing on thefirst display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

At 304, social-media indicators are received that indicate a level ofviewer attention to television content that includes the advertisement.For example, the advertising manager 102 receives the social-mediaindicators 234 from any number of the various social-medias 236, wherethe social-media indicators indicate a level of collective viewerattention to the television content 204 that includes the advertisement(e.g., advertising content 206) for playback and viewing on the firstdisplay screen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

At 306, an advertiser-designated time duration is received, where thedesignated time duration is between the advertisement playback on thefirst display screen 104 and the event for viewing on the second displayscreen 106. For example, the advertising manager 102 receives anadvertiser-designated time duration between the advertisement playbackon the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202 and theevent for viewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobile device212.

At 308, an optimal time offset is determined from playback of theadvertisement to a start of an event that is associated with theadvertisement. For example, the advertising manager 102 determines theoptimal time offset 122 from playback of the advertisement for viewingon the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202 to astart of the event that is associated with the advertisement. An eventinitiated for viewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobiledevice 212 can be a coordinated second-screen advertisement with thefirst-screen advertisement that is played back for viewing on the firstdisplay screen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

In some implementations, the optimal time offset 122 is determined bythe advertising manager 102 based on viewer attention to televisioncontent that includes the advertisement, where a level of viewerattention indicates a low-interest moment in the television content andlikely viewer focus on the mobile device 212. The optimal time offsetcan also be determined based on collective viewer activity in socialmedia, such as determined from the social-media indicators 234,determined based on a viewer reaction to previous events displayed forviewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212,determined based on viewer preferences, or determined within theadvertiser-designated time duration (received at 306).

At 310, an optimal time offset is determined as a duration of timebefore the advertisement will playback for viewing on the first displayscreen 104. As an alternative or in addition to the optimal time offsetdetermined at 308, the advertising manager 102 determines the optimaltime offset 122 as a duration of time before the advertisement willplayback for viewing on the first display screen 104 at themedia-playback device 202.

At 312, an event notification is communicated to a mobile device toinitiate the event for viewing at the optimal time offset on a seconddisplay screen at the mobile device. For example, the advertisingmanager 102 initiates communication of the event notification 224 to themobile device 212 to initiate the event for viewing at the optimal timeoffset on the second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example advertisement system 400 in whichembodiments of attention-based advertisement scheduling in time-shiftedcontent can be implemented. The example advertisement system 400includes the advertising manager 102 that determines the playbackoptimization schedule 126 and includes the first display screen 104 andthe second display screen 106 as described with reference to FIG. 1.This example advertisement system 400 also includes the media-playbackdevice 202, the optional device 210 that integrates the media-playbackdevice 202 and the display screen 104, and the mobile device 212 asshown and described with reference to FIG. 2. The advertisement system400 also includes the advertising services 228, the social-mediaservices 236, and the network 226, also described with reference to FIG.2.

In some embodiments, the advertising manager 102 receives acontent-event indicator 402 that indicates playback of recorded contentfor viewing at the media-playback device 202, where the recorded contentincludes advertisements in respective timeslots within the recordedcontent. For example, the media-playback device 202 can implement thedigital video recorder 208 to maintain the television content 204 asrecorded content that includes the advertising content 206, and therecorded content can be initiated for playback by a user of the device202 at the convenience of the user.

The advertising manager 102 can then determine the playback optimizationschedule 126 that includes replacing one or more of the advertisementsduring the playback of the recorded content or time-shifting one or moreof the advertisements to alternate timeslots during the playback of therecorded content. In some implementations, the advertising manager 102can determine the playback optimization schedule based on collectiveviewer activity in social media or levels of viewer attention to aninitial distribution of the television content 204 in real time (e.g.,as broadcast or multicast content) that is then recorded as the recordedcontent.

The levels of viewer attention to the initial distribution of thetelevision content 204 (e.g., the real-time broadcast) can be based onthe social-media indicators 234 at the time of the television-contentdistribution. For example, the placement of an advertisement for viewingas a first-screen event at the 12th minute of a television program maybe determined to have been sub-optimal based on social-media feedbackbecause increased viewer attention to the television program occurredaround the 15th minute during the television program broadcast.Television content may have potential higher-interest moments, such asbased on an injury in a sporting event, un-announced celebrity cameos,or real-life events that create unforeseen interest from viewers, andother interesting moments that are not predictable by an advertisementscheduler but that sustain viewer interest. By moving advertisementtimeslots or creating new ones around the higher-interest moments in therecorded television content, overall advertisement effectiveness isincreased and advertisement avoidance behaviors are reduced.Accordingly, an advertisement can be time-shifted to play back justbefore or after the more interesting portion of the recorded contentthat captures increased viewer attention.

The advertising manager 102 can generate the playback optimizationschedule 126 to replace advertisements in the recorded content or totime-shift advertisements during playback of the recorded content. Theplayback optimization schedule 126 can also include new advertisementtimeslots in the recorded content, or different pricing of theadvertisement timeslots. The advertising manager 102 can also determinethe playback optimization schedule 126 based in part on the optimal timeoffset 122, such as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Theadvertising manager 102 can determine the optimal time offset 122 as aduration of time before or after playback of an advertisement forviewing on the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device202. The additional flexibility to be able to time-shift a first-screendevice action or advertisement provides that an optimal time offset ismore likely determinable without generating viewer attention conflictsbetween first-screen devices and second-screen devices when scheduling asecond-screen event based on a first-screen action.

In some embodiments, one or more advertisements may also be split amongdifferent timeslots or time segments as spliceable advertisementsdepending on advertiser preferences. For example, an advertiser maydevelop story-telling advertisements that have specific segments and, asthe advertisements are progressively played back for viewing, a story oruse case is developed for the viewer. Further, episodic advertisementscan also be developed in a similar scenario, where a set of specificadvertisements are rescheduled to convey a story to a viewer duringplayback of the recorded content.

In some implementations, the media-playback device 202 can have stored astatic advertisement playback schedule, e.g., one associated with theadvertising content 204, and the advertisement playback schedule caninclude fixed timeslots and corresponding fixed prices. Themedia-playback device 202 may also include a synchronized advertisementplayback schedule with adaptive pricing, such as for reserved timeslotsand pricing adapted to advertisement constraints or to optimal timeoffsets. The media-playback device 202 can receive an elastic sync-ad(synchronized advertisement) schedule that includes offsets, which mayconflict with the existing static or synchronized advertisementschedules at the playback device 202, create dead air in the existingsynchronized advertisement schedule by moving an advertisement, orinclude additional scheduling constraints or preferences that are takeninto account.

The advertising manager 102 can implement a combination ofcomponentization and compensation algorithms (e.g., representative ofstrategies) to improve advertisement scheduling effectiveness. Forexample, componentization can be applied to split an advertisement intomultiple smaller advertisement segments that can be more effectivelyscheduled. The compensation aspect can be applied to optimize theoverall utility of all advertisements in a particular schedule to meetboth quantity and quality advertiser metrics for advertisementimpressions. The opportunity is in determining if a conflictadvertisement can be componentized to create more placement with lessconflict, such as to initially play back a short-form of theadvertisement and then to playback a long-form of the advertisement atthe next non-conflict, sub-optimal timeslot.

Additionally, the advertising manager 102 can determine whether aconflict advertisement can be compensated by auto-rescheduling amultiplicity of the advertisement instances, where effective quantityand quality of advertisement impression is restored. Accordingly,spliceable advertisements can be implemented for dynamic rescheduling ofepisodic advertisements within recorded, time-shifted content,implemented to split an advertisement across multiple shorter time slotsif the advertisement lends itself to segment splits, or implemented toschedule short-form advertisements rather than long-form versions of theadvertisements when available timeslots are either sub-optimal for thelong-form version of an advertisement or would lead to an ineffectiveadvertisement impression placement.

The advertising manager 102 can communicate the playback optimizationschedule 126 to the media-playback device 202 (identified at 404) toreschedule or replace the advertisements in the recorded content duringplayback of the recorded content. Additionally, the advertising manager102 communicates alternate advertisements or manages delivery of thealternate advertisements (e.g., the advertising content 232 maintainedat the advertising services 228) to the media-playback device 202 toreplace the advertisements stored at the media-playback device 202. Theadvertising manager 102 can also initiate communication of the eventnotification 406 to the advertising client 222 at the mobile device 212to initiate a second-screen event for viewing at the optimal time offseton the second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 of attention-basedadvertisement scheduling in time-shifted content and is generallydescribed with reference to the example advertisement system 400 shownin FIG. 4. The order in which the method is described is not intended tobe construed as a limitation, and any number or combination of thedescribed method operations can be combined in any order to implement amethod or an alternate method.

At 502, a content-event indicator is received that indicates playback ofrecorded content with advertisements for viewing at a media-playbackdevice. For example, the advertising manager 102 in the advertisementsystem 400 (FIG. 4) receives the content-event indicator 402 thatindicates playback of recorded content for viewing at the media-playbackdevice 202, where the recorded content includes advertisements inrespective timeslots in the recorded content.

At 504, a playback optimization schedule is determined that includestime-shifting or replacing advertisements during the playback of therecorded content. For example, the advertising manager 102 determinesthe playback optimization schedule 126 that includes replacing one ormore of the advertisements during the playback of the recorded contentor time-shifting one or more of the advertisements to alternatetimeslots during the playback of the recorded content. In someimplementations, the advertising manager 102 determines the playbackoptimization schedule based on collective viewer activity in socialmedia or levels of viewer attention to an initial distribution of thetelevision content 204 in real-time that is recorded as the recordedcontent. The levels of viewer attention to the initial distribution ofthe television content can be based on the social-media indicators 234.The advertising manager 102 can also determine the playback optimizationschedule 126 based in part on an optimal time offset 122, such asdescribed with reference to operations 506 and 508.

At 506, an optimal time offset is determined from playback of anadvertisement to a start of an event that is associated with theadvertisement. For example, the advertising manager 102 determines theoptimal time offset 122 from playback of the advertisement for viewingon the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202 to astart of the event that is associated with the advertisement. An eventinitiated for viewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobiledevice 212 can be a coordinated advertisement with the first-screenadvertisement that is played back for viewing on the first displayscreen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

At 508, an optimal time offset is determined as a duration of timebefore an advertisement will playback for viewing at the media-playbackdevice. As an alternative or in addition to the optimal time offsetdetermined at 506, the advertising manager 102 determines the optimaltime offset 122 as a duration of time before the advertisement willplayback for viewing on the first display screen 104 at themedia-playback device 202.

At 510, the playback optimization schedule is communicated to themedia-playback device to reschedule or replace the advertisements duringplayback of the recorded content. For example, the advertising manager102 initiates communication of the playback optimization schedule 126 tothe media-playback device 202 to reschedule or replace theadvertisements in the recorded content during playback of the recordedcontent. Additionally, the advertising manager 102 communicatesalternate advertisements, or manages delivery of alternateadvertisements from the advertising services 228, to the media-playbackdevice 202 to replace the advertisements stored at the media-playbackdevice 202 (e.g., when implemented as a digital video recorder device208).

At 512, an event notification is communicated to a mobile device toinitiate the event for viewing at the optimal time offset at the mobiledevice. For example, the advertising manager 102 initiates communicationof the event notification 406 to the mobile device 212 to initiate theevent for viewing at the optimal time offset 122 on the second displayscreen 106 at the mobile device 212.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example advertisement system 600 in whichembodiments of multi-screen advertisement correlation based on purchasescan be implemented. The example advertisement system 600 includes theadvertising manager 102 that determines the advertisement-fulfillmentcriteria 128 and includes the first display screen 104 and the seconddisplay screen 106 as described with reference to FIG. 1. This exampleadvertisement system 600 also includes the media-playback device 202,the optional device 210 that integrates the media-playback device 202and the display screen 104, and the mobile device 212 as shown anddescribed with reference to FIG. 2. The advertisement system 600 alsoincludes the advertising services 228, the social-media services 236,and the network 226, also described with reference to FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, the advertising manager 102 receives latencyconstraints 602 that are associated with advertising events from productor service providers 604. The latency constraints 602 can includevarious indicators, such as an advertising effectiveness when a productor service is offered as a second-screen device advertisement, a historyof viewer redemption actions initiated at the mobile device 212, or anexpectation of viewer response to the second-screen advertisement at themobile device 212. A latency constraint 602 may also include atime-sensitive component of a second-screen advertisement. Theadvertising manager 102 can then determine the advertisement-fulfillmentcriteria 128, which indicate a duration of time within which fulfillmentof a product or service is expected when offered as a second-screenadvertisement that corresponds to a first-screen action oradvertisement.

For example, an advertising campaign may include offering a fulfillmentcriteria with a second display screen advertisement or event, such as acoupon that includes a time-based or quantity-based constraint. A pizzacompany may offer discount pricing and free delivery within a particularregion (e.g., a city or zip code) if an order is placed within the nextthirty minutes (e.g., a time-based constraint) or until a specifiednumber of pizzas have been ordered at the discount price (e.g., aquantity-based constraint). An advertisement-fulfillment criterion foran offer can be tied specifically to a synchronized action that isgenerated in response to a known first-screen content event. This allowslocalized, user-specific criteria related to the fulfillment to beconsidered in both the delivery of the second-screen synchronized action(i.e., the second-screen advertisement) and the actual redemption of theproduct or service that is tied to that action.

The advertising manager 102 can also determine theadvertisement-fulfillment criteria 128 based in part on the optimal timeoffset 122, such as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Theadvertising manager 102 can determine the optimal time offset 122 fromplayback of a first-screen advertisement for viewing on the firstdisplay screen 104 at the media-playback device 202 to the playback of asecond-screen advertisement that includes the fulfillment criteria onthe second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212. Further, theoptimal time offset 122 can be determined as a duration of time beforeor after playback of the first-screen advertisement for viewing on thefirst display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

The advertising manager 102 can receive the content-event indicator 606that indicates playback of the first-screen advertisement for viewing onthe first display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202. Theadvertising manager 102 can then initiate communication of the eventnotification 608 to the mobile device 212 to initiate the second-screenadvertisement that includes the advertisement-fulfillment criteria 128for viewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobile device 212.

The advertising manager 102 may also receive a fulfillment response 610from the advertising client 222 at the mobile device 212, where thefulfillment response indicates a viewer input at the mobile device 212to redeem an offer of the product or service in the second-screenadvertisement (e.g., based on the advertisement-fulfillment criteria128). The advertising manager 102 can then initiate communication offulfillment-response analytics back to the provider 604 of the productor service.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 of multi-screen advertisementcorrelation based on purchases and is generally described with referenceto the example advertisement system 600 shown in FIG. 6. The order inwhich the method is described is not intended to be construed as alimitation, and any number or combination of the described methodoperations can be combined in any order to implement a method or analternate method.

At 702, latency constraints that are associated with advertising eventsare received from a provider of a product or service. For example, theadvertising manager 102 in the advertisement system 600 (FIG. 6)receives the latency constraints 602 from a product or service provider604. The latency constraints 602 can include various indicators, such asan advertising effectiveness when a product or service is offered as asecond-screen advertisement, a history of viewer-redemption actionsinitiated at the mobile device 212, or an expectation of viewer responseto the second-screen advertisement that includes the fulfillmentcriteria at the mobile device 212.

At 704, a fulfillment criteria for the product or service is determinedbased at least in part on the latency constraints. For example, theadvertising manager 102 determines the advertisement-fulfillmentcriteria 128 which indicate a duration of time within which fulfillmentof the product or service is expected when offered as the second-screenadvertisement that corresponds to a first-screen advertisement. In someimplementations, the advertising manager 102 can determine theadvertisement-fulfillment criteria 128 based in part on the optimal timeoffset 122, such as described with reference to operation 706.

At 706, an optimal time offset is determined from playback of a firstadvertisement for viewing on a first display screen to playback of asecond advertisement that includes the fulfillment criteria on a seconddisplay screen. For example, the advertising manager 102 determines theoptimal time offset 122 from playback of a first advertisement forviewing on the first display screen 104 at the media-playback device 202to playback of a second advertisement that includes theadvertisement-fulfillment criteria 128 on the second display screen 106at the mobile device 212. The advertising manager 102 can determine theoptimal time offset 122 to playback the second-screen advertisement forviewing as a duration of time after the first-screen advertisement isplayed back for viewing on the first display screen 104 or as a durationof time before the first-screen advertisement will playback for viewingon the first display screen 104.

At 708, a content-event indicator is received that indicates playback ofthe first advertisement for viewing on a first display screen at amedia-playback device. For example, the advertising manager 102 receivesthe content-event indicator 606 from the advertising client 218 at themedia-playback device 202, and the content-event indicator indicatesplayback of the first advertisement for viewing on the first displayscreen 104 at the media-playback device 202.

At 710, an event notification is communicated to a mobile device toinitiate the second advertisement that includes the fulfillment criteriafor viewing on a second display screen at the mobile device. Forexample, the advertising manager 102 initiates communication of theevent notification 608 to the mobile device 212 to initiate thesecond-screen advertisement that includes the advertisement-fulfillmentcriteria 128 for viewing on the second display screen 106 at the mobiledevice 212.

At 712, a fulfillment response is received from the mobile device. Forexample, the advertising manager 102 receives the fulfillment response610 from the advertising client 222 at the mobile device 212, where thefulfillment response indicates a viewer input at the mobile device 212to redeem an offer of the product or service in the second-screenadvertisement (e.g., based on the advertisement-fulfillment criteria128). At 714, fulfillment-response analytics are communicated to theprovider of the product or service. For example, the advertising manager102 initiates communication of fulfillment-response analytics back tothe provider 604 of the product or service.

FIG. 8 illustrates various components of an example device 800 that canbe implemented as any device, server, or network device described withreference to any of the previous FIGS. 1 through 7. In some embodiments,the example device may be implemented as a content server,media-playback device, or mobile device, such as described withreference to FIGS. 1 through 7. Alternatively or in addition, the devicemay be implemented in any form of device that can receive and play backtelevision and advertising content, such as any one or combination of acommunication, computer, playback, gaming, entertainment, mobile phone,or tablet computing device.

The device 800 includes communication transceivers 802 that enable wiredor wireless communication of device data 804, such as received data,data being received, packets of data, etc. Example transceivers includewireless personal area network radios compliant with various IEEE 802.15standards, wireless local area network radios compliant with any of thevarious IEEE 802.11 standards, wireless wide area network radios forcellular telephony, wireless metropolitan area network radios compliantwith various IEEE 802.15 standards, and wired local area networkEthernet transceivers.

The device 800 may also include one or more data-input ports 806 viawhich any type of data, media content, or inputs can be received, suchas user-selectable inputs, messages, music, television content, recordedcontent, and any other type of audio, video, or image data received fromany content or data source. The data-input ports may include USB ports,coaxial-cable ports, and other serial or parallel connectors (includinginternal connectors) for flash memory, DVDs, CDs, and the like. Thesedata-input ports may be used to couple the device to components,peripherals, or accessories such as microphones or cameras.

The device 800 includes one or more processors 808 (e.g., any ofmicroprocessors, controllers, and the like) or a processor and memorysystem (e.g., implemented in an SoC) that processes computer-executableinstructions. A processing system may be implemented at least partiallyin hardware, which can include components of an integrated circuit oron-chip system, an application-specific integrated circuit, afield-programmable gate array, a complex programmable logic device, andother implementations in silicon or other hardware. Alternatively or inaddition, the device can be implemented with any one or combination ofsoftware, hardware, firmware, or fixed-logic circuitry that isimplemented in connection with processing and control circuits, whichare generally identified at 810. Although not shown, the device 800 caninclude a system bus or data transfer system that couples the variouscomponents within the device 800. A system bus can include any one orcombination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memorycontroller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, or a processor orlocal bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures.

The device 800 also includes one or more memory devices 812 that enabledata storage, examples of which include random-access memory,non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory, flash memory, EPROM,EEPROM, etc.), and a disk storage device. A disk storage device may beimplemented as any type of magnetic or optical storage device, such as ahard disk drive, a recordable or rewriteable disc, any type of DVD, andthe like. The device 800 may also include a mass storage media device.

A memory device 812 provides data storage mechanisms to store the devicedata 804, other types of information or data, and various deviceapplications 814 (e.g., software applications). For example, anoperating system 816 can be maintained as software instructions within amemory device and executed on the processors 808. The deviceapplications may also include a device manager, such as any form of acontrol application, software application, signal-processing and controlmodule, code that is native to a particular device, ahardware-abstraction layer for a particular device, and so on. Thedevice may also include an advertising manager 818, such as theadvertising manager 102, and the device may include an advertisingclient 818, such as when the device is implemented as a media-playbackdevice (e.g., a first-screen device) or as a mobile device (e.g., asecond-screen device) as described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7.

The device 800 also includes an audio or video processing system 822that generates audio data for an audio system 824 or generates displaydata for a display system 826. The audio system 824 or the displaysystem 826 may include any devices that process, display, or otherwiserender audio, video, display, or image data. Display data and audiosignals can be communicated to an audio component or to a displaycomponent via a radio frequency link, S-video link, High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface, composite video link, component video link,Digital Video Interface, analog audio connection, or other similarcommunication link, such as the media data port 828. In someimplementations, the audio system 824 or the display system 826 areintegrated components of the example device 800.

In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of thepresent discussion may be applied, it should be recognized that theembodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures aremeant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting thescope of the claims. Therefore, the techniques as described hereincontemplate all such embodiments as may come within the scope of thefollowing claims and equivalents thereof.

We claim:
 1. An advertisement system comprising: a mobile device; amedia playback device; a processing system to implement an advertisingmanager that is configured to: receive a content-event indicator thatindicates playback of an advertisement for viewing on a first displayscreen at the media-playback device; determine an optimal time offsetfrom playback of the advertisement for viewing on the first displayscreen at the media-playback device to a start of an event that isassociated with the advertisement; initiate communication of an eventnotification to the mobile device to initiate the event for viewing atthe optimal time offset on a second display screen at the mobile device;initiate communication of fulfillment-response analytics back to aprovider of a product or service; wherein the advertising manager isconfigured to determine the optimal time offset based on viewerattention to television content that includes the advertisement; whereina level of the viewer attention includes: 1) social-media indicators;and 2) a low-interest moment in the television content on themedia-playback device and likely viewer focus on the mobile device; whenthe level of the viewer attention indicates the low-interest moment inthe television content and the likely viewer focus on the second displayscreen at the mobile device, the advertising manager is configured todetermine the optimal time offset; when the level of the viewerattention is based on the social-media indicators, the advertisingmanager is configured to determine the optimal time offset; when thereare viewer preferences, the advertising manager is configured todetermine the optimal time offset; wherein the social-media indicatorsinclude tweets, likes, and check-ins, wherein the advertising manager isconfigured to determine the optimal time offset within anadvertiser-designated time duration between the advertisement playbackon the first display screen at the media-playback device and the eventfor viewing on the second display screen at the mobile device; whereinthe event initiated for viewing on the second display screen at themobile device is a coordinated-advertisement with the advertisementplayed back for viewing on the first display screen; and wherein thefulfillment-response is received from the mobile device indicating aviewer input at the mobile device to redeem an offer of the product orthe service in the coordinated-advertisement.
 2. A method comprising:receiving a content-event indicator that indicates playback of anadvertisement for viewing on a first display screen at a media-playbackdevice; determining an optimal time offset from playback of theadvertisement for viewing on the first display screen at themedia-playback device to a start of an event that is associated with theadvertisement; communicating an event notification to a mobile device toinitiate the event for viewing at the optimal time offset on a seconddisplay screen at the mobile device; receiving an advertiser-designatedtime duration between the advertisement playback on the first displayscreen at the media-playback device and the event for viewing on thesecond display screen at the mobile device; determining the optimal timeoffset based on viewer attention to television content that includes theadvertisement; communicating fulfillment-response analytics back to aprovider of a product or a service; wherein a level of the viewerattention includes: 1) social-media indicators; and 2) a low-interestmoment in the television content on the media-playback device and likelyviewer focus on the mobile device; when the level of the viewerattention indicates the low-interest moment in the television contentand the likely viewer focus on the second display screen on the mobiledevice, the optimal time offset is determined; when the level of theviewer attention is based on the social-media indicators, the optimaltime offset is determined; when viewer preferences exist, the optimaltime offset is determined; wherein the social-media indicators includetweets, likes, and check-ins; wherein the optimal time offset isdetermined within the advertiser-designated time duration; wherein theevent for viewing on the second display screen at the mobile device is acoordinated-advertisement with the advertisement played back for viewingon the first display screen; and wherein the fulfillment-response isreceived from the mobile device indicating a viewer input at the mobiledevice to redeem an offer of the product or the service in thecoordinated-advertisement.
 3. A method comprising: receiving acontent-event indicator that indicates an advertisement will playbackfor viewing on a first display screen at a media-playback device;determining an optimal time offset as a duration of time before theadvertisement will playback for viewing on the first display screen atthe media-playback device; communicating an event notification to amobile device to initiate an event that is associated with theadvertisement for viewing at the optimal time offset on a second displayscreen at the mobile device; receiving an advertiser-designated timeduration between the advertisement playback on the first display screenat the media-playback device and the event for viewing on the seconddisplay screen at the mobile device; determining the optimal time offsetbased on viewer attention to television content that includes theadvertisement; communicating of fulfillment-response analytics back to aprovider of a product or a service; wherein a level of the viewerattention includes: 1) social-media indicators; and 2) a low-interestmoment in the television content on the media-playback device and likelyviewer focus on the mobile device; when the level of the viewerattention indicates the low-interest moment in the television contentand the likely viewer focus on the second display screen of the mobiledevice, the optimal time offset is determined; when the level of theviewer attention is based on the social-media indicators, the optimaltime offset is determined; when there are viewer preferences, theoptimal time offset is determined; wherein the social-media indicatorsinclude tweets, likes, and check-ins; wherein the optimal time offset isdetermined within the advertiser-designated time duration; wherein theevent for viewing on the second display screen at the mobile device is acoordinated-advertisement with the advertisement played back for viewingon the first display screen; and wherein the fulfillment-response isreceived from the mobile device indicating a viewer input at the mobiledevice to redeem an offer of the product or the service in thecoordinated-advertisement.